Power and Time, chapter 4
Time to save the cheerleader.
Title: Power and Time
Fandom: Doctor Who, Heroes
Characters: The Doctor (10), Martha Jones, various Heroes characters
Rating: PG
Vworp vworp
The TARDIS faded into view in the small alleyway. The Doctor stuck his head out of the door and peered around.
"Midland, Texas. Present day Earth. Yup, we're in the right place."
He moved out of the way, allowing Martha and Peter to follow him.
"So this thing can go anywhere in time?" Peter asked.
"And space yeah." Replied Martha.
Peter turned back and ran a hand over the side of the blue box. It seemed incredible, impossible even. However despite this Peter still didn't have that much of a problem believing in it. After all he had flown and painted the future, who was he to deny the existence of other things like time-space machines and ...whatever the Doctor was. Peter checked his watch. Despite the Doctor's claims of the excellence of his ship they still had to find Hiro and Ando.
"Look Ando said that they were at a place called the Burnt Toast Cafe. We just need to find him and Hiro and then all of us can get to the highschool."
The Doctor's face lit up.
"Ah, this would be the organic time traveller Hiro Nakamura. It'll be nice to meet him again, or technically it'll be the first time. I think." He locked the TARDIS door before turning back to the other two. "Right, so where is this diner?"
Martha pointed across the road to where a small building with 'Burnt Toast Cafe' written on the window. It surprised the Doctor just how on target they'd managed to land. Usually there was a slight chance of the TARDIS pulling them off course to take them somewhere else. Possibly this meant that the TARDIS itself wanted them to be here. Or it meant that the Doctor was starting to get better at this after 900 years or so. He decided not to mention anything about it however, just in case he, in a certain Earth turn of phrase, "jinxed it".
Walking across the street they approached the diner. The Doctor pushed the door open to reveal the handful of regulars sitting at tables and the various waiting staff going to and fro. In the corner on the message board was some kind of memorial with flowers and pictures. And next to that was a slightly nervous Japanese man. He noticed the small group entering and came over.
"Are you Peter Petrelli? I'm Ando, you called Hiro."
"Ando, right. Yeah I'm Peter. This is the Doctor and Martha." He gestured to the other two, who gave a little wave in greeting. Ando returned with a half-nod half-bow before turning back to Peter.
"Hiro isn't here. He travelled back in time to rescue someone and hasn't come back yet." He led them over to the memorial on the wall. On there were several pictures of a girl with red hair. A nametag on the shelf read 'Charlie'.
"Who is she?" Asked the Doctor.
"She was a nice waitress, she was killed," Said Ando. He gestured over to one of the booths. "We were sitting right here. Next thing we know, she was dead and the killer was gone in a flash. Like, okage..bogeyman" he clarified when he saw Peter and Martha's confused looks. "Hiro thought it may be the same person who will go after the cheerleader. I told him not to, but he says that a man who is afraid to use his power does not deserve it."
The Doctor could admit that Hiro certainly had a strong sense of how to use his ability. However going back in time to save somebody was a tricky situation. It was also more than likely doomed. You can't just go back in time to save people; the Doctor knew that well enough.
Peter spoke up, shaking the Doctor out of his thoughts, "I know where and when the cheerleader gets attacked." He reached into his jacket and pulled out a photo, which Ando looked over. The shocked expression on his face made the Doctor reach forward and grab the photo. It showed the sight of Peter's mangles body outside of a highschool gym. The clock above him read 8:12.
"This is the painting you got from Simone?" The Doctor asked. Martha looked round his shoulder and her eyes widened.
"There's no way we can let you go to the school if this shows the future." She said. Peter shook his head and grabbed the photo back off the Doctor.
"It's not that simple, this is something I have to do." Peter, like Hiro, had a sense of what to do. But it was more than that, or so it seemed to Martha. The man was determined to save people, even if he didn't have any power at the moment. It was beginning to remind her a little of the Doctor in that sense.
"Do you have powers? Can you bend time and space like Hiro?" Ando asked. The Doctor and Martha both shook their heads. It was better just to say 'no' than to keep explaining that yes, they were time travellers, but no they didn't have special abilities.
"I do, but it's complicated," Peter spoke up "I kind of..absorb the abilities of those around me. When I'm on my own I can't really do anything."
They paused. It was up to the four of them to save the cheerleader, stop Sylar, and there wasn't a single active power between them.
"Look, maybe you should stay here. It's not safe." Said Martha. The Doctor gave her a look. It wasn't exactly safe for them either. "Well we should wait for Hiro then." She concluded after a moment.
Peter turned back towards the door. "There's no time. Are you coming?" He faced them, waiting for an answer.
The Doctor nodded after a moment. "Alright. But if I tell you to get out of there, you do it with no arguments." Peter agreed. They moved to leave, but Ando stayed behind.
"I will wait for Hiro. When I'm on my own I can't really do anything either." The Doctor grabbed a napkin from a table. He then proceeded to borrow a pen off a nearby crossword solver with a quick "can I borrow this? Thanks" without waiting for an answer. He scribbled something on the napkin before handing it to Ando.
"Here. This is Martha's mobile phone number. She'll get your call wherever or even whenever we are. Just give us a ring when Hiro arrives. We can meet up again afterwards."
Peter was at the door now. He glanced at his watch. They had to get moving. Ando took the napkin with Martha's number, nodding and assuring them that he would call when Hiro came back. He looked up again uneasily.
"But Peter, if you go then you'll die."
"Don't worry." promised the Doctor, looking between both Ando and Peter, "I will do anything I can to make sure that this painting doesn't come true." He patted Ando's shoulder in a friendly gesture before leading Martha out to follow Peter. Ando stood there for a moment, pocketed the number, and sat back down in the booth. There was nothing left for him to do now but wait for Hiro to come back from saving Charlie, or wait for the others to come back from saving the cheerleader. Either way, he was going to need another cup of coffee.
**********
The large dark buildings of Union Wells highschool loomed above the Doctor and Martha. They stood outside the gym, waiting for Peter to come back from checking around inside the school. The Doctor paced back and forth, hands in the pockets of his long brown coat. In the distance they could hear cheers coming from the school's sports stadium. Martha crossed her arms, feeling a chill. It wasn't particularly cold, but there was something about schools at night which was undeniably creepy.
"What if it can't be changed? The future in Isaac's paintings I mean." Martha said suddenly. The Doctor spun round.
"Martha, you know firsthand that nothing in the timeline is solid. Things shift, things change. The world nearly ended in 1599 even though you'd lived a whole life up to 2007." He said with a berating look.
"Yes, and I know that," Martha really hated it when the Doctor acted as though she'd just said the thickest thing in the world, "but if it is always changing and shifting, like you said, then how does it stay still long enough for Isaac to paint it?"
Before the Doctor got a chance to answer her Peter came out of the door.
"I took a look around. A student I ran into said that the cheerleaders will be part of the half-time show." He said. Looking up at the clock he checked the time. 8 o'clock. Twelve minutes until he possibly died. The Doctor noticed it too.
"Right," began the Doctor, "if you head over to the stadium then Martha and I can take another look around here." He turned to walk back inside. Peter stayed right where he was however.
"No way. I can't do that." The Doctor rolled his eyes. Of course, whenever someone said that they wouldn't argue if told to get out, they would inevitably argue when the time came.
"Peter. Please. We will find the cheerleader and get her to safety, but we have to make sure that you stay safe as well." The Doctor said.
"That doesn't matter. All that matters is that we find this girl."
Martha thought it best to try and get a grip on the situation. "Look, I'll look around inside. You stay with Peter and that way you can make sure he stays safe. If I find any cheerleaders I'll tell them they have to go to the stadium, how does that sound?" She looked between the two men. Peter nodded reluctantly and the Doctor muttered an "alright then". "Good." Said Martha. She went inside, leaving the Doctor and Peter to glare slightly at each other.
As soon as she was greeted with the long corridors of Union Wells High, Martha began to regret volunteering to look around. They all looked the same to her. After a few tries Martha eventually found what appeared to be the girl's changing rooms. All the lights were off. Rows of lockers and benches were in either direction. Martha wondered why they had to make these schools so bloody big. Martha turned to the right and crept along, looking down each row. A few pairs of shoes and things scattered about, but no people. She jumped and spun around at the sudden sound of footsteps and shuffling.
"Hello?" Martha called, ignoring what every horror film she'd ever seen had taught her.
At that moment the sound of screaming filled the air in reply to her question. It was coming from the other end of the changing rooms. Martha ran towards the screams, ignoring the rational part of her mind telling her to go for help. A loud thumping noise sounded and Martha sped up. There was a body on the floor. A girl. A cheerleader. Was it the one they had to save? What was her name? Claire? Another girl was being held by her throat against the lockers by a tall man in a long dark coat and a hat obscuring his face. It had to be Sylar. With a flick of his finger a cut appeared from nowhere across the girl's head. Martha was frozen to the spot with terror. Sylar turned his head and regarded Martha. He turned his hand in her direction, but paused. Martha realised what had drawn his attention when the body on the floor started to move. Her arms were twisted and her face caved in, but she stood up. Cuts on her face sealed up again and bruises faded as her face moved back into the correct position. Completely healed she looked at Martha, then back to Sylar and the other cheerleader.
"R..run." Whispered the dangling girl as blood flowed over her face. Sylar dropped her body to the floor as if it were only a doll, then turning towards Martha and the now healed cheerleader.
Martha finally kicked herself into action, grabbing Claire's hand and dragging her back towards the door. A bench flew above their heads, but Martha pressed on. Running out into a long corridor Martha had to fight the urge to look behind to see where he was. As they neared the end of the corridor Peter and the Doctor came running towards them.
"What happened?" asked Peter. Martha only pointed behind them in reply. Sylar now stood at the other end of the corridor. The Doctor moved forward.
"Peter, take her outside. Get her as far away from here as possible." Peter gave a quick nod and took Claire by the shoulders, leading her outside. Martha lingered.
"Doctor, we need to go." She said, trying to keep the fear out of her voice. She really wanted to run, but she'd just seen that man slice a girl's head off without touching her and she couldn't let the Doctor face him alone.
"It's alright Martha," said the Doctor, glancing at her before turning towards the man. He stepped forward slowly. Sylar raised his hand.
"Gabriel." said the Doctor. Sylar paused when he heard the name. "It's Gabriel Gray, isn't it? I understand what's happening to you. I can help you, and there are others that can help you. But you have to stop what you're doing. You don't have to do this Gabriel."
A moment of silence passed. Martha watched tensely as the Doctor took another step forward. Suddenly Sylar flicked his wrist and the locker doors ripped themselves off the wall. Sylar then directed them and the doors flew towards the Doctor and Martha.
"Right then, nevermind. Martha, run!" He ducked, grabbed Martha's hand and dragged her towards the exit.
They burst through the door that led onto the courtyard. Peter and Claire were standing on a set of large stairs. They ran over to the pair.
"Who is he?" Yelled Claire. The Doctor looked behind, but Sylar hadn't come through the door after them yet.
"Doesn't matter. We need to get out of here." Said the Doctor. Peter nodded.
"Ok, go to the stadium. Find people. He doesn't want to be seen." Said Peter.
"Wait, what about you?" The bloodstained cheerleader held onto Peter's arm. He looked over to where Sylar was now standing in the courtyard.
"Just go. Now! I'll be right behind you." He had a look on his face that Martha could tell left no argument. They had no time.
The Doctor grabbed Claire's hand. He and Martha ran back in through a side door. If they could just get round the front and into the crowds, they could call for help.
"Where's Peter?" asked Claire. The Doctor spun round. He thought Peter was following them, but he wasn't.
"No." He whispered as realisation dawned on him. Pushing past the two girls he ran to the main door, the way they had first entered the school. Lying on the floor with blood pooling around his broken body, was Peter Petrelli.
"Oh no" Claire ran forward, throwing off Martha's hand as the other girl tried to stop her. She stopped in front of Peter's body. The Doctor looked up. 8:13. Looks like the future Isaac had painted couldn't be shifted this time. When he turned back Martha was by Peter's body, her medical training acting like instinct to try and save him. But there was no use, Peter was dead.
Martha almost jumped out of her skin as Peter suddenly started coughing. He sat up, bones cracking loudly as they popped and snapped back into place.
"Where..." Peter turned his head and spat a mouthful of blood on the floor. "..where is he? Did you find him?"
The Doctor shook his head. He had bent down to take a closer look at Peter's healing body. If Peter only could use the powers of those close to him, then somebody else had to have a healing ability. Turning his head the Doctor took in Claire's ripped and bloodstained uniform. No prizes for guessing who Peter got the healing from.
"I'm gonna go get help." said Claire. She started running away, towards the stadium, when she turned back. "But..who are you?"
"I'm Peter Petrelli, this is the Doctor and Martha Jones."
"I'm Claire." She turned to go again but this time Peter stopped her.
"Are you the one? By saving you did we save the world?"
Claire shook her head, confused.
"I don't know," she said at last, "I'm just a cheerleader".
When Claire had left and was out of sight, the Doctor turned back to Peter.
"How do you feel?" he asked.
"Numb, and-" Peter stopped as the sound of police sirens could be heard. Somebody must have heard the commotion and called the police.
"Quick," said Martha, "they can't see you like this." She reached forward and pulled Peter's mangled lower torso back to where it was supposed to be. It was just in time as three police cars surrounded the group. The cops got out and some immediately sprung into defensive positions, guns drawn. The rest burst forward and proceeded to handcuff Peter, the Doctor and Martha.
"Wait, no. You've got the wrong guys." protested Peter. Martha began to struggle, but a warning look from the Doctor made her stop. The Doctor himself sighed. This was getting steadily worse.
*********
They'd been in America barely a week and already the Doctor had been in two interrogation rooms. This was one of the reasons he didn't come to America that often, something always went really wrong. Well, more wrong than usual. Like that time in San Francisco for instance.
At least this time Martha was with him. There was also an Odessa police officer, Deputy A. Shepherd according to his name badge, who seemed to have been placed in the room with them purely to stare at them in silence and look intimidating. Martha has her arms folded and was matching the officer in hard staring. They hadn't seen Peter since they'd arrived at the station, which worried the Doctor. The man may have just broken almost every bone in his body and come out unscathed, but the Doctor needed to check to make sure Peter was alright.
"Can I ask what we're being charged with exactly?" the Doctor asked after a while.
The deputy made no reply.
"Can we see Peter Petrelli?"
Again there was no reply.
"Is there any chance of getting a cup of tea?"
The door to the door opened and a scowling blonde woman in a smartly cut suit came in, followed by a man.
"That'll be all Deputy Shepherd, we'll take it from here." The woman said. The officer gave a small affirming grunt and got up to leave.
"It was nice chatting with you." Called the Doctor as the other man left, closing the door behind him. The woman sat down opposite the Doctor and Martha. She was all business. This was more an official "by the book" questioning rather than the hard-lined interrogation he'd gotten from Bennet. The Doctor guessed that the woman was from some kind of government agency. The man who had come in with her hung back a little, and was currently preoccupied with taking a handful of aspirin.
"I'm Agent Audrey Hanson" the woman said, flashing her badge "F.B.I." So the Doctor had been fairly spot-on there. "This is Officer Matt Parkman, he's working with me on an investigation. I would like to ask you a few questions about what happened at the school."
"Question away." Offered the Doctor.
"Firstly mister.... John Smith, is it? What exactly were you and Miss Jones doing in Odessa? Kinda of out of the way for sight-seers."
"Just passing through."
"I see." Agent Hansen looked over at her partner and nodded. It was some kind of signal but the Doctor couldn't be sure what for.
As soon as Audrey gave him to signal, Matt tried to listen in on the thoughts of the two people she was questioning. They had been at the school when the cheerleader had been killed, they may know something about what happened. Also the wound on the girl's head suggested the involvement of Sylar. Matt didn't think this guy was Sylar, he was co-operating too much. But there was definitely something suspicious about him. I mean, who was actually called "John Smith"? The girl, Martha Jones, hadn't said anything. She was clearly letting her friend take the lead. But there had to be something she had to say, but she didn't need to say it out loud. The now familiar sensation came over Matt as he focussed on Martha.
..why doesn't the Doctor just flash out the psychic paper and get her to let us go? I'm sure he could come up with something.
Psychic paper. Matt didn't have a clue what that could mean. And this guy was apparently a doctor and hadn't mentioned it, or was called "the Doctor" which made even less sense. Matt shifted to listen in on him. At first there was nothing, which was odd. Normally when he attempted to read a specific person's mind it only took a few moments before he could hear something.
The other man continued answering Audrey's questions, but tilted his head slightly as though listening for something. It was exactly like what Matt had been doing when he listened to people's thoughts. It was a little unsettling, but Matt was determined to get something from this guy. Then all of a sudden there was definitely something happening, but it wasn't like anything else that had happened before. There were images. It was like a swirl or a tunnel of colour. It was like an ongoing storm, blazing through time. Endless. There were faces too, nine or so faces there for an instant, then gone. And there were others, but they were somehow different from the nine faces. They went by even quicker and were accompanied by an aching feeling.
Matt had only ever experienced voices before, but now he was seeing things whilst still being able to see with normal vision at the same time. The overall effect was bizarre. Maybe there was something else here, in this man's head.
I wouldn't do that if I were you.
The voice threw Matt off completely. The images had faded completely, but there was still a strange feeling hanging over his mind.
You don't have to be afraid. My name's the Doctor.
Matt looked over to where the Doctor was sitting, still co-operating with the interview. The only difference was that now he had a smirk on his face. He was speaking aloud, but he was also talking to Matt at the same time.
Fascinating though. You seem to be able to listen to people's thoughts. Very useful I suppose. But my head can't be like anything else you've listened to. And it really isn't somewhere you want to be poking around in. Trust me on that one.
The voice broke off and everything was back to normal. As Matt was able to get back to his surrounding he noticed that the Doctor, Martha and Audrey were all staring at him.
"Parkman, what's wrong?"
"I...uhh...I need to get some air." He turned and left the room, but could see out of the corner of his eye the Doctor continuing to smirk. Matt leaned against the wall outside and let out a long breath. His head was pounding like nothing else. Pulling out the aspirin from his jacket pocket, Matt had downed another handful when Audrey came out of the room. She looked like she was ready to tear him apart.
"What the hell is with you Parkman? One second you're fine, suddenly it's like you're on Mars or something."
"Yeah, sorry about that."
"Whatever. Did you get anything off them?"
Matt couldn't even begin to explain what had just happened. It was enough that he'd gotten Audrey to believe he could read minds, he couldn't tell her that he'd had some kind of mental conversation with a guy who called himself "the Doctor". She would think he was crazy. He even thought he was crazy.
"..No." he said eventually, "Nothing. It's like they said, they were just passing through. Wrong place at the wrong time I guess."
Audrey looked like she was going to argue with him. Matt was a bad liar and he knew it, but she shrugged him off.
"Fine. We don't have anything on them anyway. We'll release them soon. The other cheerleader who was at the scene and her dad are here, we'll talk to them now." She called over one of the Deputies to take the two interview subjects back to their holding cell.
************
"Shouldn't be long now till they let us go." Said the Doctor, leaning back against the wall as he sat on one of the two small benches in the cell. One wall, the one containing the door, was glass so at least they weren't shut in.
"You really know how to show a girl a good time."
The Doctor looked over next to him where Martha was sitting arms crossed.
"Could be worse."
"We've been kidnapped by a secret organisation, had a telekinetic serial killer after us, Peter almost died and now we've been arrested. How could it have been worse?"
The Doctor considered everything that had happened to them so far. "We could have... there could have been..okay, you're right."
There was a sharp knock at the door. Bennet was there with one of the officers, who opened the door to let him in.
"I was hoping I could have a word."He said as soon as the door had shut.
"Did your Company guys find Sylar? Is Claire alright?" asked Martha.
Bennet nodded "Sylar was caught. And Claire's fine. A little shaken up obviously. But she'll survive."
"In more ways than one." Said the Doctor. Bennet took off his glasses and proceeded to clean them.
"You saw her then?"
Martha spoke up "I did, in the locker room when Sylar attacked her."
"Also Peter absorbs other people's abilities," added the Doctor, "and Claire was the only possible person he could have gotten that from."
Bennet put his glasses back on. "True." He said. "Claire's talking to Peter at the moment but she wants to speak to you as well. I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention to her that I asked you to be at the school. I don't think she needs more to worry about right now."
"Alright." Agreed the Doctor. Bennet waved over at the officer to open the door. After a few moments he reappeared with Claire, who came in by herself.
"Hi."
"Hello Claire," the Doctor gave one of his wide grins, "how are you feeling?"
"I'm fine." She glanced over her shoulder to where her father was standing before sitting down on the bench next to Martha. "I just wanted to thank you for saving me. Peter told me you were friends of his, right?"
The Doctor was glad that Peter had said something. At least now they didn't have to come up with an excuse as to why they were at the school.
"He also said you were from outer space."
Martha laughed. "Actually, he's from outer space," she pointed over to the Doctor, "I'm from south-west London."
"But if you were at the school with Peter, then you know about it too then? This whole "save the cheerleader, save the world" thing?"
The Doctor nodded. "That's right. Couldn't tell you what it means though exactly."
"But why me? Do you know? Is it because of what I can do?"
"More than likely, yes. But other than that, I'm sorry, but I don't really know." Said the Doctor.
"Great." Claire rolled her eyes, "I'm a freak and people are gonna come after me because of it." She looked at the floor for a few moments before something else occurred to her. "So you actually are from space?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Well..sort of... kind of... basically..yes." Said the Doctor. "It's a bit weird."
"Not much weirder than someone who can break their ribs and put them back together afterwards." Claire commented.
"Well," said the Doctor, "we can all be weird together then can't we?"
Claire got up from where she was sitting; hiding the small smile she was wearing. "I'd better go. Again..thanks for saving me."
"Anytime." Said Martha warmly, getting up and giving Claire a small hug. "You just be careful, alright?" Claire smiled.
"I will," she opened the door and gave another smile to the other two, "like I said to Peter, you guys are totally my heroes."
Not long after they'd seen Claire, the Doctor and Martha were released. The FBI agent seemed less than pleased, but there was no proof that either the Doctor or Martha were involved in the cheerleader's murder.
As they made their way down the large set of steps outside the station, the Doctor considered their options now. Ando had Martha's number, but they had no way of contacting him. Also the Doctor still wanted to check on Peter. A clerk at the front desk of the station had told them he'd been released by his borther, Nathan Petrelli. Either way, the Doctor decided it was probably best that they headed to the TARDIS.
"Ok, make me a promise," Martha pointed sternly at the Doctor in mock anger to drive home her point, "no more getting arrested."
The Doctor held up his hand "I solemnly swear that I am up to no- hang on, I mean I swear we will not see the inside of a cell for the duration of our visit to America." He grinned and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his coat, "At least we weren't there that long. I wonder where we can find-"
"Peter!"
Martha ran down the steps to where she'd seen Peter lying on the floor. The Doctor followed quickly, pushing past a man in a suit who had been standing next to Peter. Martha was kneeling down and trying to get Peter into a recovery position.
"Peter it's Martha, Can you hear me? Has somebody called an ambulance?" She directed the last question to the man in the suit. He nodded.
"Y-yeah. They should be here any second. Who are you people?" He demanded. The Doctor held up his hands, trying to calm the other man down.
"Take it easy. We're friends of Peter. We just want to help." Somehow the Doctor's words seemed to make things worse.
"So you're part of all this craziness?"
"Doctor, the ambulance." Said Martha. Two paramedics came over with a stretcher and got the now unconscious Peter onto it. The man in the suit hung back, watching.
"Did he tell you what happened to him?" The Doctor queried. Martha shook her head in answer.
"Just something about "it's all my fault" and then nothing else. We should follow him to the hospital, make sure he's okay." The Doctor.
"No way." The man glared at the Doctor and Martha, "you're a part of this. Stay the hell away from my brother."
Ah, thought the Doctor, this must be Nathan. "I swear we don't mean any harm."
"If you follow us, I'll have you both arrested." Nathan warned. He turned away from them and got into the ambulance with Peter and the paramedics. The Doctor and Martha were left standing and watching as the ambulance retreated.
"Nice guy" remarked the Doctor dryly.
"What should we do now? Wait for Hiro and Ando to get in touch?"
As if on cue, Martha's phone let out a series of tuneful notes. She pressed the receiver to answer.
"Hello? Ando?"
"Yes, it's me." Ando replied, "and Hiro too, he came back. Also the painter, mister Isaac Mendez is with us."
Martha waved the Doctor over to listen in. "Isaac is with Ando and Hiro." She whispered. "Ask him where they are." The Doctor mouthed.
"Where are you? We'll come find you."
"At a motel just outside of Odessa. The "Kirby Motel" I think it's called."
Martha repeated the location to the Doctor, who nodded. Taking the phone off Martha, The Doctor held it up.
"Ando, it's the Doctor. We're on our way."
Phew! That was a long one. Hope you enjoyed.
And as ever, the previous parts:
First chapter:
community.livejournal.com/doctorwho/6409320.html#cutid1
Second chapter:
http://community.livejournal.com/doctorwho/6417310.html#cutid1
Third chapter:
http://community.livejournal.com/doctorwho/6422200.html#cutid1